Responsible Tourism Tanzania have announced the certification of a number of tourism properties, which have recently been awarded by Tanzania’s first Responsible Tourism certification. The certification scheme follows a systematic procedure to assess hotels and lodges on their environmental, economic and socio-cultural activities. This is based on criteria that have been tailored specifically to match both local Tanzanian and international requirements and are aligned with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), which serves as the international body for fostering increased knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices, in addition to promoting the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles and building demand for sustainable travel.
The Elewana Collection is delighted to confirm that after a vigorous verification process, all properties in the Tanzania portfolio have now gained a certification status. The properties have been awarded with certificates of compliances at the SEED level for five properties and 1 at SAPLING level from Responsible Tourism Tanzania. The properties awarded with the SEED certification are Elewana Tarangire Treetops, Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp, Elewana The Manor at Ngorongoro and Elewana Kilindi Zanzibar. Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge was awarded last year with the SAPLING Level.
The certification system has four levels or steps, which have been designed to push for continuous improvement. Each step will guide the organization toward becoming not only a mature enterprise in terms of responsibility but a role model for others. The requirements for SEED, SAPLING, and TREE levels have already been developed with the requirements for FLOWER being developed, to ensure the appropriate standards are evaluated and worthy of this certification.
The Elewana Collection has proved that their working culture and daily operations are fully integrated into a sustainable and responsible management approach. Systems are in place to monitor and redirect the operations and all the employees understand the triple bottom line approach. Hannah Wood, Group Sustainability Lead Elewana Collection, said on behalf of Elewana, “We are delighted to achieve this certification of all our Tanzanian properties with RTTZ. This means that the entire Elewana Collection group is now fully eco-certified with every property in both Kenya and Tanzania having achieved at least entry level standards, with many at Gold. We look forward to working with RTTZ here in Tanzania and promoting responsible tourism to our guests.’’
In recognition of these achievements by the respective properties, huge credit is due to the teams for their hard work and dedication. We would like to congratulate all of them and acknowledge their outstanding commitments! We would also like to thank the panel at Responsible Tourism Tanzania for recognising the Elewana Tanzania properties for their commitment to sustainable tourism principles and awarding the respective certification status.
